Defense Daily Webinar
Biofuels and DoD
Date: December 4, 2012
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM ET
The Defense Department’s biofuels initiative is one of the most expensive, and most controversial, endeavors it has undertaken. In August 2011, President Obama announced the Agriculture and Energy departments and the Navy would invest up to $510 million during the next three years in partnership with private sector organizations to produce advanced drop-in aviation and marine biofuels to power military and commercial transportation. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has called for the Navy and Marine Corps to receive half of their energy from non-fossil fuels by 2020.
The Navy, along with the Energy and Agriculture departments, announced in July that $30 million in federal funding is available to match private investments in commercial-scale advanced drop-in biofuels, which are derived from plant and animal feedstocks that don’t compete with food uses.
The Air Force has a biofuels initiative of its own with a 2016 goal of cost-competitively acquiring 50 percent of its domestic aviation fuel requirement via alternative fuel blends.
The Pentagon, overall, accounts for 80 percent of the federal government’s energy use and has energy bills in the tens of billions of dollars. Naval use of petroleum-based fuels represents 25 percent of Pentagon energy consumption while aviation fuel represents about 42 percent of the Navy’s fuel consumption.
You can see how important biofuels are to the Pentagon. Find out what the future has in store for DoD’s biofuels initiative by learning from industry experts in a Defense Daily webinar.
Confirmed panelists include:
Phyllis Cuttino
Director of Clean Energy Program
Pew Environment Group
Cuttino is the director of Pew’s Clean Energy Program, which works to accelerate the clean energy economy to maximize the economic, national security and environmental benefits for the nation. Cuttino joined the Pew Charitable Trusts in 2007 as project director for the Pew Campaign for Fuel Efficiency, which played a critical role in the passage of the first increase in federal fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks in 30 years. Cuttino has directed issue advocacy campaigns and served in various roles for political campaigns. In the policy arena, Cuttino worked on the senior staffs of two U.S. senators. As a senior vice president at a consulting firm in Washington, Cuttino helped Fortune 500 companies and non-governmental organizations to influence public policy and increase awareness of critical issues.
Glenn Johnston
Executive VP of Regulatory Affairs
Gevo Inc.
Johnston has over 20 years experience in the biotech/chemical global regulatory arena and currently serves as the chair of the regulatory committee and board member of the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA). Mr. Johnston also chairs the ASTM Butanol Task Group and is the co-chair of the ASTM Alcohol to Jet task force. Johnston has been recognized by ASTM with the “Award of Excellence” for his dedication and contributions to developing standards. Prior to joining Gevo, Johnston was director of regulatory affairs with NatureWorks, LLC, where he managed product stewardship issues and integrated his work with global influences regarding toxicology, environmental, and safety. Preceding his tenure at NatureWorks, Johnston helped lead the regulatory effort in the plastics division of Sandoz Chemicals. During his long-standing career, he has gained extensive experience related to food legislation (FDA, EU, JHOSPA, KFDA, MERCOSUR, etc), chemical legislation (TSCA, EINECS, DSL, METI, KCL, and AICS), animal feed requirements (US FDA, AAFCO), and other regulatory laws that affect the biotech supply chain. He has worked with industry groups in Japan (JHOSPA), Taiwan (EBPA), the U.S. (BPI), the European Union (IBAW) and China (BMG). He is currently a Member of ASTM D02, and has also been a Delegate of ISO TC61 and CENTC249, and a Member of ASTM D20. Johnston has participated on the board of directors of various industry trade associations, published papers and given speeches on biotech/chemical regulatory framework around the world.
Retired Navy Vice Adm. Dennis McGinn
President and CEO
American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE)
McGinn in 2011 took the helm as president of ACORE where he advances the organization’s mission of building a secure and prosperous America with clean, renewable energy. Under McGinn’s leadership, ACORE launched www.EnergyFactCheck.org, a website designed to rebalance the debate about renewable energy, providing fact-based information to counter misinformation about the industry. McGinn serves as co-chairman of the CNA Military Advisory Board advising policy makers on the nexus of energy and national security, and as an international security senior fellow at the Rocky Mountain Institute. McGinn is a widely recognized energy and national security expert. He is regularly asked to participate in public forums about energy and national security and has been published in newspaper articles and opinion pages across the country.
Mike Ritzenthaler
Senior Research Analyst
Piper Jaffray
Ritzenthaler is a vice president and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, focusing on chemical and industrial biotechnology companies. Prior to joining Piper Jaffray in 2010, Ritzenthaler worked as a chemical engineer for Dow/Cargill JV, as well as plant design and construction with AMEC. Ritzenthaler co-invented patents for fractionating lignocellulosics and yeast biotechnology and won a NASA award for research and development work on polymer composites. Ritzenthaler holds bachelor degrees in chemistry from Lawrence University and in chemical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. Ritzenthaler also holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota. Ritzenthaler has held the Professional Engineer license from the state of Minnesota since 2007.
Defense Daily invites you to join this timely discussion concerning the outlook for biofuels. Please Register Now.
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If you are having any technical difficulties or need assistance meeting these requirements, please contact our Technical Support Center at 866-709-8255 or click here. For content questions regarding this Webinar, contact Jennifer Green-Holmes at [email protected]